THE AMERICAS

Toltec (900 AD – 1200 AD)  Had own writing system  Scientists have not deciphered  Mythologized as great, tall, good-looking people  Quetazalcoatl vs. Tezcatlipoca  Possessed a modest state

Toltecs build Tula  Associated with fall of Teotithuacan  Quetzalcoatl  By 1100 CE was largest urban center in Mesoamerica 10 sq kilometers; 35,000 people  Center for crafts  Long-distance trade  Influenced Maya  Destroyed in 1150 CE and center of power in the region shifts

Aztecs  Originally northern people with clan- based organization  Take advantage of fall of Toltecs

Aztec social contract  Social stratification pronounced  Human sacrifice  Some area left independent to create war/human sacrifice  Religion and ideology of conquest  Worshipped large number of gods incl. Huitzilopochtli build Tenochtitlan: The Foundation of Heaven  Arrived in Valley of Mexico in 1325  Grew on reclaimed swampland  Thousands transported for forced labor and human sacrifice

Tenochtitlan: The Foundation of Heaven

Aztec Economy  Tribute System  Chinampas  Merchants operated all markets  Merchants distance from and subordinate to elite traded long- distance  State controlled all trade

Andes - - > Inca  Four ecological zones  Coast  Mountain valleys  Higher Elevations  Amazon region  Goods were exchanged through a network of trade routes

Founding of Incan State  Manco Capac consults Inti  “big ears”  Moved to Cuzco  Married daughters of elites to weaker groups  Capac – aligned with sun god

Inca – political and economic organization  Emperor almost considered a god  Empire divided into four great provinces each ruled by a governor  Priests and noblemen influenced politics  Left local rulers in place  Economy based on agriculture  Allyu – agricultural village  Mit’a labor system

Inca – social organization  Small communities aimed at self-sufficiency  Men and women had gender-specific, but virtually equal jobs  Men: hunting, war, government  Women: wove, cared for crops and the home  Developed strong professional military  Split inheritance  Property passed though men and women  Women did not serve as head of ayllus  Some women forced into concubinage or given to temples  No distinct merchant class

Incan cultural achievement  Did not introduce new technology, but made efficient use of existing technologies  Proficient metallurgists  Used quipus  Developed monumental architecture and roads

Coastal South America: Chimu (600 CE – 1470 CE)  Come after Moche  Built irrigation and water storage  Capital: Chan Chan (see photo)  10 Royal compounds  Built admin. Centers are far South as Lima, Peru